Tilly and the Buttons – Zadie Dress

I didn’t want to post a bunch of vacation makes in a row – so this week you get to see my Mario Zadie Dress from Tilly and the Buttons. I’ve made a bunch of Tilly lately because her patterns are very easy and super cute! Zadie is a knit dress that has in-seam pockets and neat details with the diagonal seams and raglan sleeves. I made the short sleeve version. Also, the Zadie is empire waist (more on that later).

At the time of making this my measurements were 36-32-40 which put me into a 4-5-5 size. I decided to follow the directions and I went with bust size 4 and graded to waist size 5 and hips size 5. I should have known to size down a little bit because I always seem to have to. I think between that and my black fabric choice (it was a bit too much of a 4 way stretch knit) I ended up taking in the sizes 1″ each. So oops… but it was a super easy fix. I also took the skirt up 1″.

Next time I want to do a size 4 for the waist but also lower it an inch or two. This might take some brain power because of how the pattern pieces are made, but easily done. I am NOT a fan of empire waist. I didn’t realize it was empire until AFTER I made it. DUH! Haha, oh well, that’s on me. It’s super cute but I feel like empire makes anyone who isn’t incredibly skinny, look pregnant. I’m not pregnant, so I don’t want to look pregnant!!

The Mario fabric is from a custom knit group. The consistency is 95% cotton/5% lycra. I love this combo! I love that I was able to use a child’s panel for the front and it fits perfectly. Even if I add an inch to the length, it should still fit perfectly. Also – inseam, hidden POCKETS!

Overall, I like the pattern but want to make a couple alterations. Great pattern, fun and different!